


Come Darkness, Come Light

by suyari



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Christmas, F/M, Gen, Kid Fic, M/M, Vladivostock
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-23
Updated: 2013-12-23
Packaged: 2018-01-05 18:45:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1097374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suyari/pseuds/suyari
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sasha and Aleksis are Christmas royalty. Not even being the Marshall can save Stacker, Herc, and their kids from being swept up into the holiday.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Come Darkness, Come Light

**Author's Note:**

> Written for my co-pilot, whose birthday is today.
> 
> Happy Birthday!!

No one did Christmas like Sasha and Aleksis. Every year when December rolled around, the pair would ensure the Shatterdome was properly prepared. The menu in the canteen was impeccably delivered. Decorations were hung with precision. Nowhere was safe. Anyone and everyone were subject to a Christmas make over if found wanting in Christmas cheer and most were too afraid to go against their wishes, or undo their deliberate alterations. Which meant, willing or no, they had veritable legions of holiday converts.

They didn't expect anyone to undergo any sort of religious transformation. Belief in the holiday wasn't even a valid factor where the Kaidanovskys were concerned. What mattered most was tradition. Keeping alive the feelings of vibrancy and liveliness. It was a time of remembrance and celebration, and the relaxed festive atmosphere was not only good for morale, it was frankly contagious.

Jaeger bays were strung with lights, illuminating the cavernous area with millions of bright pin pricks that shone like stars in the night sky. Cherno Alpha was always decked out in holiday finest, much to the Marshall's dismay. Each year it would be different, and every year, he swore the Jaeger was even more swathed in ornamentation. Any note made to the Kaidanonvskys themselves was met with stubborn determination to go harder and bigger the following year. So Stacker Pentecost learned to keep his tongue.

The one year he and Herc had brought their children along on a routine inspection during the holiday season would forever be engraved upon the memories of all lucky, or unlucky, enough to have been present. They had tried to avoid it, but there'd been no opening in their schedule to maneuver. Which meant they showed up at Vladivostock with a pair of wholly unprepared children who were immediately overwhelmed by the intensity of the environment.

Mako was far more interested in the Kaidanovskys complete Christmas experience than Chuck, who, uncharacteristically, spent a great amount of time clutching close to his father. Which was it's own Christmas gift to the Ranger. For the duration of their stay, Sasha and Aleksis happily overhauled Mako and attempted to hijack Chuck. Chuck learned quickly that while Aleksis was larger and fiercer than his father, no one messed with the Australian when he gave them the look of a fierce predator protecting it's young. And Chuck, so long as he stayed wherever his father was and clung to him closely - to be out of grabbing range - was safe from being changed into undeniably loud, itchy clothes and sparkly, jangly things. He had to endure a lot more physical contact than he was used to, but his father's hand across his back or stroking through his hair was calming in ways he didn't allow any other time. (If later the Hansens felt they owed the Kaidanovskys a debt they couldn't repay for that Christmas, no one ever spoke of it.) Sasha took to approaching Herc and Chuck often just to smile at the younger Hansen and tempt him away. Sometimes it even worked.

Mako dove in head first and never looked back. Much to Stacker's dismay. She quickly became immersed in the lavish holiday lifestyle, and delighted in the attention paid to every detail. She would return to him for bedtime coated in holiday baubles, trailing glitter and tinsel and talking rapidly and animatedly, with full hand gestures. He was always glad to see her so excited, happy she was fully engaged in anything, let alone a holiday that was at it's roots about family and children and life. His comprehension and grasp of Japanese however, took a brutal beating that month, as his daughter flew through words. Sometimes he wondered how she managed to communicate so well with the Russian pilots.

By Christmas eve, there was no getting out of Vladivostock. Sasha and Aleksis absolutely refused to allow them to leave, especially with their children. Even being the Marshall of the PPDC hadn't saved Stacker and his team.

Aleksis dressed as Santa and sat with a full arrangement of reindeer - to which Stacker and Herc never wanted to know nor ever asked - and a beautiful accompanying sled and Santa throne. He towered over the mass of excited children, even seated, but somehow the suit and beard lured them in like he was handing out candy and puppies.

Even Chuck was not immune. He and Mako ran straight for the crowd of children as soon as they entered the hangar and waited, practically vibrating, for their turns to sit in his lap. Everyone received a gift that night, and both children insisted on preparing their rooms exactly as they had been instructed by the pair of pilots who'd commandeered everyone's lives for a full month.

Both Herc and Stacker felt themselves to be in their prime. Fully capable, well trained soldiers with extra sensitivity, even asleep. Which was why both were decidedly uncomfortable the next morning when they woke to bouncy children shouting at them that Santa had been by. Somehow, Sasha and Aleksis had bypassed every instinct and carefully honed skill the pair of them possessed and delivered on their promises, made only the night before.

There was new-found respect all around. Though Stacker did take them aside for an unofficial reprimand neither seemed particularly bothered by - or likely prone to adhere to.

A lot could be said about their time in Vladivostock. But what was most important was the way Sasha and Aleksis had transformed two emotionally scarred, reclusive children into excitable, giddy kids, if only for a short while. Which, in the end, was the whole point. The world may be endlessly under threat, but it was no reason to forget the important things. Things like family and fun, and the fact that children just needed to _believe_ sometimes.

Sometimes, they _all_ just needed to believe. In that, Sasha and Aleksis Kaidanovsky were consummate professionals.


End file.
